


Inner Beginnings

by Creeta



Series: Life of Haruno Sakura [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-08 09:23:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21473728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Creeta/pseuds/Creeta
Summary: Basically, canon screwed sakura and the girls in naruto and I’m fixing it. It's also definitely gonna be au. Follows canon loosely. Sakura will learn that being a shinobi isn’t just about becoming stronger to protect, it’s about becoming stronger to survive. She begins to learn this sad truth from day one of training.This will have 3 books in the seriesInner Beginnings: Pre-Cannon(?): Graduation-15 years old(?): Shippūden
Series: Life of Haruno Sakura [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1547881
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

"Look at that stupid forehead!"

Kick.

"It's so ugly!" One girl cackled.

"Yeah, and she thought she could take us on! We're basically Shinobi already." _Your’re only 2 years older than me. _

Kick.

The group of kids, led by Ami, laughed further with each kick, stomp, and punch they made.

_Why do they hate me so much? Mommy said to fight back, but they’re too strong. And what if-_ Another hard swipe and the wind was blown out of me. It hurt. So, so much. _But I can’t cry. Mommy wouldn’t cry. _

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" A new voice showed up.

I tried to lift my face off the ground, but Ami had her foot permanently glued to my head. She shoved my face further into the ground when she felt me stir.

Sakura grit her teeth. _No crying! _

Then suddenly the pressure was gone and I was being pulled up to my feet. Whoever it was, put me behind them. Such pretty hair. _It looks like mommy’s. _

"You're not Shinobi! Not even Genin! I'm Yamanaka Ino and if you don't leave my friend alone, you'll never ever graduate from the Academy!" Her voice was loud and threatening, but made me feel safe.

Everyone around us paled, some even gasped. And Ami, she looked scared! I've never seen her look like that before. Ino...

She grabed my hand, pulling me forward so that I was beside her. I flinched at how hard her grasp was._ But I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to hurt me. She's saving me! Like mommy!_

"Let's go, my daddy will know what to do." She spoke with confidence.

And with that, Ino ran past everyone, making sure to push Ami to the ground in passing. We went out of the park and past all the food stands. Taking turn after turn until we reached a flower shop. Before I could read the sign though, Ino pushed me in.

There were so many colors! Orange, blue, red, you name it.

"So pretty.." I whispered to no one.

"What? Speak up! You gotta be louder if you want to be heard."

"O-Okay." She gives me a narrowed eye look. "OKAY!" Ino seemed pleased by this.

"Better." And with nod of her head she yells for her mommy.

After a few minuets of waiting nervously, a tall lady comes into view. She looks just like Ino! Her hair is a lot longer though, going almost to her knees.

"Princess, I was with a customer, what do you need? And who's this?" Concern evident in her voice.

I move to hide behind Ino when her mom saw me.

The Yamanaka's gaze softend at this and she crouched to be at eye level with us. Before I could hide any further, Ino huffs and pulls me in front of her. Hands staying on my shoulders to keep me from moving away.

"I need daddy! And I don't know who this is, but she's my new best friend and there was a lotta people hurting her. So, I'm gonna hurt them worse!" Ino practically yelled.

Yuma Yamanaka raised her brow at this. Her little princess sure knew how say what she wanted. Maybe we _might_ have spoiled her...just a little. But the young pinkette that was with her looked beaten and battered. _Who would do such a thing to a child?_

"Well, Princess, maybe you should introduce yourself first. And your father is still at work. The both of you will have to wait. Let's head home. Ne?"

~~~~~~

We arrived at the Yamanaka clan compound and entered through a beautifully engraved wooden double door. The compound looked better than the flower shop we were at previously. It was like entering a garden. Yuma-san, as she told me to call her, took us to the first white house. They all appear so similar, the only real difference being the size. The cobblestone path we walked on curved slightly, leading to the front door. Everything here was a lot more modern than most clan homes. Or at least from what mommy had told me about them.

"Come on Sakura-chan! You can stare at our compound later, we gotta go inside and wait for daddy." Ino called out to me. Her sudden voice making me jump, and my permanent blush got redder.

"Al-Alright!" I tried to sound more confident like Ino.

The inside was just as pretty, but before I could say anything Ino directed me to the bathroom.

"Why are we in y-your bathroom?" I asked, confused.

Ino looked exasperated. "You're all dirty because of those stupid girls! We can't let you go looking like that the entire day. Now come on, we'll get in together. It's bonding! Mommy bonds with daddy in here all the time and they're like suuuuper close."

"Okay!" Ino's so nice, a little pushy but she's nice. _She's my friend, my very own friend!_

We get into the bath, the water smells floral. I don't know if I like that.

Ino makes it her job to scrub all the dirt out of my hair. She's unable to cover her gasp when she sees Sakura's unmuddied hair. Laughter erupts from her and Sakura pulls back looking at her shyly.

"Why are you laughing, Ino?"

"Your hair and your name go well together. It's just like cherry blossom petals! So pretty." Ino answered with a smile.

"You..you don't think it's funny looking?"

Ino stops her giggles and seems serious for a moment.

"Of course not! It's super pretty, and it brings out your eye color too. You look like a fairy or something." She nods her head, very sure of herself.

And suddenly, Ino found herself wrapped in a hug with a crying Sakura.

"Thank you *sniff* Ino * Only my parents *sniff* say that. Everyone else thinks it's ugly like my forehead." Sakura continued to wail into her shoulder.

"Well, they're just jealous because they're ugly! Ami could only wish to look as beautiful as us. My mommy said if anyone makes fun of how I look, it's 'cause they think I'm pretty. Now stop crying! They don't deserve those tears, we'll show em how a true Kunoichi looks." Ino gets us out of the bath, giving me a towel.

We run hand in hand to her bedroom. Ino then goes to her dresser and get's out a red sun dress. She tells me to put it on and keep it because 'red just isn't her color'. But I think she doesn't know how to give things away without trying to come up with a 'good' reason.

Ino shoves me to look into her full length mirror. *Gasp* _It's so pretty!_ I wanted to tell Ino, but she was digging around in one of her drawers. Tilting her head, as she let out a loud 'found it!' Ino put whatever she found behind her back when she turned around, grinning from ear to ear.

"Close your eyes, Sakura-chan. I have a surprise!" She exclaimed happily.

Doing as told and putting her hands over her eyes for good measure, Sakura hums with excitement. _I wonder what it is?_ She felt something push her hair out of her face and settle atop her head.

"Alright! Open your eyes." I see Ino with a smug grin on her face and then she moved out the way so that I could look at the mirror once more. My eyes go wide. _It's a ribbon! But, now my forehead shows._ I quickly cover it with my hands.

"Hey! No! Don't do that, Sakura-chan. You gotta let yourself bloom or no one will see what me and your parents see. Look! Really look."

I stare at my reflection again. "I guess... It doesn't look that bad."

My eyes are more visible but so are the bruises made from earlier. The ribbon goes well with the dress too.

"Come on, we can be vain later, I think I heard daddy come in." Ino whisper yelled and the both of us giggled at her antics, then hurried downstairs out of her purple room.

When we arrived to the living room, we were greeted warmly by Ino's parents. Ino received a warm hug from her father and I got an unexpected pat on the head.

"No, don't mess up her pretty hair!" Ino batted his hand away, pouted, and fixed Sakura's ribbon.

Inoichi smiled at this gesture. Ino rarely, no, never let anyone barrow her things much less give. Looks like she's finally made a friend that wasn't Shikamaru and Choji. _I was worried she'd scare them all away._

"I heard you needed to tell me something Ino. Your mother says it's pretty important."

Ino's eyes lit up, suddenly remembering the events from earlier today.

"This is my new best friend, Sakura-chan, and there were a bunch of stupid, jealous girls beating her up! And they lied saying they were Shinobi. Ami is like 2 years older than us, so they're still in the Academy. And so you should do something so that they stop being so mean to Sakura-chan!" She took a big inhale before continuing. "They don't deserve to be Shinobi if they're big ugly meanie heads."

Inoichi and Yuma looked at each other for a moment. Obviously taken aback by what their little Princess just told them. The Academy Instructors should know that their students are using what they're teaching for such things. Bullying has a terrible influence on a child's psyche. After the two adults discussed what to do, they let the two children know of their conclusion.

"Well, tomorrow morning I'll go up to the Academy and inform their Sensei of what has happened. The Sensei will let them know that using what they're learning on innocents is wrong. And their Sensei will decide what else to do, not me. Is that good for you, Princess?"

"Yes!" She shouts. Inoichi chuckles and pats her head lovingly.

Then Yuma turned to Sakura, crouching like earlier. "Let me help with the bruising, Sakura-chan." Yuma puts her hand up and glows green. A nice cool feeling soon goes through Sakura.

"What was that, Yuma-san?" She looked at her in awe, making Yuma-san smirk like Ino does when she's praised. Obviously, that's where Ino get's it from.

"It's a type of Medical Jutsu. But, all I can do is heal bruises, and minor injuries. My real specialty is poisons and antidotes." Yuma-san explained. "Now let's go get you home, Sakura-chan. Ino, Princess, would like to come walk your friend home?"

Ino bounced up with a yes and again, hand in hand, Sakura ran with her new friend.

_My best friend._

~~~~~

AN

Hello people! This is Creeta speaking. This is being cross posted on Wattpad as well. But only this account is mine alone. My Wattpad one is used with my cousin Rita. So she has a fanfic she’s starting as well on there.

I've never written fanfiction before, but always wanted too. And I love Naruto! But, come one, cannon kinda screwed the girls over. Tenten got less screen time than Tonton the pig! And I hate that Ino and Sakura ruined their friendship over a boy. So this is very much a wish fulfillment fic. This chappie was just a starter to Sakura's life. And I do have quite a few of my own original ideas that'll come into play, mainly to do with Sakura's family. She will not be OP, and her progression in training will not be super genius level, at least not in things like ninjutsu.

Anyways I hope you all will love this, like how I'm beginning too.

Peace out!

-Creeta


	2. Chapter 2

It's been a full month since Sakura met Ino. And it has also been the best month of her life. _Finally_, Sakura has a friend of her own. Someone to play, have sleepovers, and train with.

Although, Yuma-san helps with the training because Ino can't train with anyone outside of her clan until we go to the Academy. They don't practice with the pretty green chakra like Yuma-san had used on Sakura's bruises. Chakra isn't allowed, we could hurt ourselves if we do. And I can't do that if I wanna get strong like Ino and mommy.

Most of the time we try to memorize all the flowers in the flower shop and their meanings. Along with what they do, some flowers can poison you while others can heal! It's so much fun to learn about, Ino says I'm really good at remembering things.

"What's the meaning of Oleander, Sakura-chan?" Yuma-san was quizzing the girls each.

"Oleander has 2 meanings, everlasting love and caution!" Sakura answered quickly, no hesitation present.

"Good! Now, is Oleander poisonous or can it be used in medicine?" She cocked her brow, it was a trick question.

"It's both, Yuma-san. All parts of the Oleander flower is poisonous, the symptoms are drowsiness, slowed heart rate, and shaking. It can even kill you! But, the extract of it can help with asthma, epilepsy and a few other things."

Yuma-san clapped her hands together. "Good, good! Looks like you've been studying a lot, Sakura-chan. Keep it up, here are a few more books. They're not just flowers though this time, different herbs from all the Shinobi Nations."

Sakura's eyes grew wide with a gasp.

"Now, run along back home. Ino has to finish the rest of her clan training for the day. See you Wednesday, ne?"

"Hai! Thank you Yuma-san, see you later Ino-chan." I bowed and then hugged Ino and set off for home. Mommy's supposed to be back today!

Sakura ran with a total of 5 books, one for each major country. They jumbled up and down with each step she took. By the time Sakura made it to her front door, she was gasping for air and red all over from the heat. Just as she was going to turn the knob, it opened by itself to reveal darker pink hair and a set of green eyes, much like her own.

"Daddy!" She tried to seem less winded.

Kizashi laughed at this, and ruffled her hair like he always did. One of his most obvious displays of affection.

"Woah there, Blossom! What's with all the books?" He smiled as her eyes lit up again when he mentioned the books.

"Yuma-san gave me them, they're about different herbs in all the Great Shinobi Nations! I can't wait to read them." Her smile widened at just the thought of reading.

"Well, you can read later, because mommy is back home from her mission. Let me take the books so you can give her the biggest hug yet." Kizashi gathered the pile of reading material from her and watched as she whizzed past him to find Mebuki.

Sakura ran, even though she was exhausted from all the running she'd just done, to find her mommy. She hadn't seen her in two weeks, which was two weeks too long in her opinion. _Maybe mommy can train her like Yuma-san does with Ino!_

She went to the kitchen, but found nothing. _Maybe the living room? Nope, not there. Where could mommy be? Think Sakura, think. Oh! The backyard, mommy likes to be outside._ And with that she swung the sliding backdoor open and flew outside. Mebuki's blonde hair was the first thing little Sakura saw. She was out under the big cherry blossom tree they had in their backyard.

"Mommy!" She exclaimed, jumping to tackle her, but her mother dodged with ease.

"Never try to get a shinobi from behind unless you're absolutely sure they won't sense you." Her mother, like always, had some sort of great and wise thing to educate her about. Or at least that's what Sakura thought.

"Hai! Of course mommy, next time no one will know I'm there. Like you!" She soaked up anything her mother told her. Mebuki was proud to say this.

And with one of her small smirks, she extended her arms to hug her daughter. "Good, Sakura. Good."

Sakura basked in the hug that Mebuki was giving her. But among this bliss were thoughts of what her mother had brought back with her. Mebuki, after coming back from a mission, always had some sort of gift for her daughter. Sakura's first book, candies that you couldn't get in Konoha, and a set of kunai that she's not allowed to use until they start with her training. Which hopefully starts soon.

"Come, Sakura, me and your father have some news to tell you." Mebuki held her hand out for her to latch on.

They made their way inside and went to the living room where daddy was. He was sitting on their sofa, a relaxed smile still on his face. Mebuki went to sit next to him, guiding Sakura to stand in front of them. Her parents shared a look, Mebuki raised an eyebrow at her husband's silly expression. _I married an idiot,_ she thought fondly. Then stared back at Sakura.

"Your father and I have decided we'll start your training now, if you wish to go to the Academy next year. Now remember this is a very important choice to ma-" Sakura squealed happily and jumped on her parents.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes ,YES! This is gonna be great, wait till I tell Ino. This means we'll go together!"

"Yes, you'll go together, Sakura. But much like how clan kids have their clan training, you will have your own personal training with us. You can't tell anyone about we do. Okay?" Mebuki informed her. Which sounded kinda weird. Why can't I tell anyone? We're not a clan.

"Why not, mommy?" She inquired.

This time it was daddy that spoke. "Because, you'll need every advantage you can get, Blossom. You won't have the backing of a clan or the chakra reserves they have. You won't have all these 'clan only' jutsus. You're at a disadvantage right from the start."

It was a bit to process, but it made sense. Ino always ended our training short and never spoke about what she did with Yuma-san or Inoichi-san. And usually, Ino loooves to brag about things.

"Sakura, you'll have to work ten times as hard. Okay? You won't have as much time to play, being a shinobi is a big thing. I do dangerous things all the time. _Scary things._ And if this is what you want to do, I'm going to make sure that you're ready for that by the time you graduate. This _will_ not be easy." Mebuki knew that Sakura won't fully understand what she's saying, but she hopes she understands enough.

Sakura paused. If mommy- no, not mommy. That's too babyish. Oka-san? Yeah!. If Oka-san does scary things, then I will too. I can't let Oka-san do this by herself, I gotta be strong for her and da- no. Otou-san. I have to be strong for them.

With a new glint in her eyes, Sakura stared her Oka-san in the eyes. Determined.

"I will train hard, Oka-san, Otou-san. I won't let you be the only one that's strong, we can be strong together!"

~~~

The next day was the beginning of her training. She met Oka-san sitting near the same cherry blossom tree from yesterday and sat across from her, the morning dew making her dress wet.

Her Oka-san opened her dark eyes at the sound of Sakura seating herself.

"First, no more dresses. You're going to be a shinobi, a _kunoichi_, now. And people will look down on you for being a girl. No sane kunoichi wears a dress unless they're skilled enough to fight in one." Mebuki paused for a moment, then continued. "The exception can be when the occasion calls for one if necessary. From now on wear those training clothes I got you a couple missions ago."

"Okay, Oka-san!" Sakura said.

"For now, we meditate. Meditating is important. It can help expand your small chakra reserves. You won't practice with chakra until you are at least eight. It's too dangerous since you're so young." Oka-san said seriously. She looked to Sakura, making sure she was paying attention.

"Close your eyes, now breathe in through your nose and out your mouth. Make sure your thoughts are clear. Good, Sakura. You're doing great."

Her Oka-san's words of encouragement made her swell with joy. Sakura continued her steady breathing until she was told to start listening for the different noises around her. The music of chirping birds, the wind blowing through the trees, her heartbeat. All these sounds had her utmost attention. She heard everything around her.

They switched from sound to smell, going back and forth, for what seemed to be hours. Then her Oka-san told her they were done.

"We'll get into a better, more cohesive routine. But for now I'm testing your knowledge. I should have started this first." She said.

"But this is a new learning experience for us both, I suppose. Now, Sakura, what _is_ chakra?" Oka-san asked.

Sakura pauses for a moment. She never read about chakra, her books never covered that. And she couldn't go to the library until she was an Academy student. But she heard people talk about it around her all the time. So, she had a good idea of what it could be, or at least some of what it can do. _I can't disappoint Oka-san_.

"Chakra is what enables us to do different sorts of jutsus. Like how Yuma-san, Ino's oka-san, could heal my bruises. That was Chakra!" Sakura said. She felt proud of herself for knowing what she did.

"That's all true, Sakura, but Chakra is more than just something to use for jutsus. Chakra is our life force. Without it, you die." This caused Sakura's eyes to go wide. Oka-san smirked.

"Every living thing has Chakra. And everyone has a different amount of Chakra they can hold. Civilians can't manipulate theirs like us because they don't have enough to utilize and they weren't taught how to." Oka-san said.

"So because of this, we protect them from all the bad things! And we get stronger to do it."

Oka-san sighed at this, much to Sakura's confusion. Was this not right? We get stronger to protect. Or at least that's what I thought.

"We're not heroes. We're Shinobi. And yes, we protect our village but we do so because it's our duty as Shinobi of Konohagakure. And as a Shinobi, you get strong so that you can survive. You can't do anything if you're weak. Some Shinobi are strong mentally, emotionally, physically." She took a moment to look into Sakura's eyes. "We play to our strengths, and persevere. We aren't samurai, there is no honor in our line of work. You will learn to play dirty, lie, and do terrible things. And you do this, not just for the success and safety of the village, but so you can survive."

Sakura met her mother's gaze and swallowed.

"Hai, Oka-san. I'll learn to survive."

~~~

That was one of the hardest moments for Haruno Mebuki to have to drill into her daughter. Because she knows that she is now the reason why Sakura won't be a child anymore. She won't allow it, she doesn't ever want her little girl to come home dead. Or worse.

And Danzo has been up to his old shit lately. The missing kids case she was assigned to is all too familiar.

If it wasn't for the third, she has no doubt in her mind that she'd have been in ROOT.

"Snake-taichou, there are three Jounin level Shinobi behind us and another two ahead." Rat said.

"Are they gaining speed? Does it seem like both side are coming at us now, or will it be an ambush for later when we make camp?" Snake replied.

"Ambush. It seems."

"Alright. We'll play into their plan. Owl, when we set up camp throw an illusion over Bear, so that they can set up traps and seals. Rat, stay close to me. You're our eyes on the situation. Let these traitors come at us."

Snake made the plan in haiste. They're definitely ROOT.

But maybe now, ROOT would know better than to test Mebuki's bite.

~~~

DUN DUN DUUUN

Okey dokey, after this. The chapters will continue to get longer and time will pass quicker-ish.

And basically, Mebuki kinda feels like shit because she's taking her only child's childhood away by being honest about how the world works and that it's no walk in the park. But, she'd rather Sakura know now rather later finding the hard way, aka winding up dead.

So it's tough love kinda.

And Mebuki, in my mind, doesn’t fully know how to filter for kids. So she speaks them how she would speak to most people. Which is one of the reasons why Sakura is more articulate(?) than other children. She actually finds most baby talk annoying but is too nice to say anything. Though, that might change as time goes on.

-Creeta

••Had to re-edit a teeny bit because I noticed the time slips weren’t separated anymore for some reason.••

Also this is probably going to have sporadic updates. As you can tell. I’ve been having a ton of personal/family issues since November and they haven’t gotten better. More of this book is on FanFiction.Net. Simply because I forgot I posted it on here and what not. But I’m trying to write more. A lot is just happening and can’t find it in me to write at this point in time. Which sucks major balls.


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